Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin appeared on Friday's All In with Chris Hayes to play the role of allegedly right-leaning MSNBC guest who mostly offers agreement to the liberal MSNBC host, and spends little time injecting the conservative point of view into the conversation. As Hayes focused on reports that Republicans have expressed worries in private meetings about how to repeal ObamaCare, Rubin repeatedly appeared amused and almost had the giggles over the plight of her fellow Republicans as she seemed to cheer on the liberal MSNBC host's obvious pleasure over the political difficulties.
At 8:21 p.m. ET, citing an article in the Washington Post by Mike DeBonis, Hayes mocked Republicans as being like the "dog that caught the car" as he turned to Rubin and posed: "It sounds like that, you know, the proverbial dog that caught the car, right? It's like: What do we do now? And it has been -- I have to note -- seven years to work on a replacement plan. And just waking up to the thicket of the politics, it's sort of astonishing."
The Washington Post columnist began by bragging on her own predictions of trouble for Republicans: "Yeah, I mean, I've been one of the lone voices that said that Republicans were digging themselves a big hole. First of all, they have over-promised to the moon. They were going to make it cheaper and better and more choices. This is not dish soap, this is health care, and there's only so many things you can do."
A bit later, she inspired laughter from Hayes as she took a further jab at congressional Republicans: "They never thought they were going to win the presidency. They've been at this for seven years. They don't have a single plan. I was actually kind of reassured by hearing them behind closed doors because they're saner in private than they are in public."
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She then took aim at Speaker Paul Ryan as she added: "And, you know, Paul Ryan has essentially been lying to the American people and lying to his members, saying, 'Oh, we're all on the same page -- we're on the same page with Trump.' Trump doesn't have a page, he doesn't have a book, he doesn't have a library. Poor Paul Ryan, you know, he has to fake it, and this really blows the cover on the fact that these people are all over the map."
Near the end of the segment, she finally admitted that "there are problems with ObamaCare," but concluded by predicting that Republicans will accomplish little toward resolving them:
They probably could sit down with Democrats and fix some of these (problems), but politically for them they have painted themselves into such a tight corner, they can't do anything rational, so they're going to be irrational, and they're going to fumble around for, I think, the better part of a year, and it may never come to anything.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, January 27, All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:
CHRIS HAYES: It was fascinating -- this great get by, I should say, Mike DeBonis, over at the Washington Post. It sounds like that, you know, the proverbial dog that caught the car, right? It's like: What do we do now? And it has been -- I have to note -- seven years to work on a replacement plan. And just waking up to the thicket of the politics, it's sort of astonishing.
JENNIFER RUBIN, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Yeah, I mean, I've been one of the lone voices that said that Republicans were digging themselves a big hole. First of all, they have over-promised to the moon. They were going to make it cheaper and better and more choices. This is not dish soap, this is health care, and there's only so many things you can do. Then, Donald Trump doubled down and said he was going to give health care coverage to "everyone."
That sounds like universal coverage, not just access. So they've set the bar really, really high, and they really have not thought this through. You're exactly right, Chris. They never thought they were going to win the presidency. They've been at this for seven years. They don't have a single plan. I was actually kind of reassured by hearing them behind closed doors because they're saner in private than they are in public.
(Hayes laughs)
And, you know, Paul Ryan has essentially been lying to the American people and lying to his members, saying, "Oh, we're all on the same page -- we're on the same page with Trump." Trump doesn't have a page, he doesn't have a book, he doesn't have a library. Poor Paul Ryan, you know, he has to fake it, and this really blows the cover on the fact that these people are all over the map. Of course they are -- there is no perfect solution. And what's more, at the end of the day, they're going to have to get eight Democratic Senators. They can't even get themselves all on the same page.
(...)
HAYES: Status quo bias is intense in health care, right? People, like, change is scary, whichever direction. Here's one -- this is Tom McArthur in that audio, Jennifer, saying "We're telling those people we're not going to pull the rug out from under them, and if we do this too fast, we are in fact going to pull the rug out from under them."
RUBIN: Well, I think their honesty is at least refreshing, and you made another good point, Chris, which is, one of the complaints about ObamaCare and the complaint that Donald Trump touted was that the deductibles and the co-pays were too high. What are they suggesting? They are suggesting a tax credit that will buy you -- get this -- a bare-bones, catastrophic plan. That is exactly what people have said they don't want. So I don't know what problem they are trying to solve.
Listen, there are problems with ObamaCare, and they could be addressing them. There are a lot of problems, and there is a lot of question as to whether even these high-risk pools they keep venerating and have never worked are really the way to go. So there are real problems. They probably could sit down with Democrats and fix some of these, but politically for them they have painted themselves into such a tight corner, they can't do anything rational, so they're going to be irrational, and they're going to fumble around for, I think, the better part of a year, and it may never come to anything.
